I am always amazed by the views that rise to greet me as the bus coasts over the Anzac Bridge at night. The city is a billion lights and cars and twisting roads and busy people. It's hugged by water that looks like a dancing rainbow of refracted light, or a colorful silken flag caught in the wind. Folks see different things in this bustle---some see pollution, others see profit---I see an infinite number of stories waiting to be told.

In a lot of ways, Sydney allows me to exhibit a childlike sense of wonder. The city is like a massive opened treasure trove or toy box, and each time I come into the city I crawl in amongst the novelties and curl myself around them as I daydream. They are my little bits of discovery and places of respite.

I'm standing beside Wharf 4 (services to North Sydney, Neutral Bay, Mosman & Cremorne, Watsons Bay, Rose Bay, Double Bay, Woolwich); my arms drapped over the cold and paint-chipped iron railing that separates dock from water. The Harbour Bridge towers close in the distance. On the opposite shore, in the shadow of the Harbour Bridge, is Luna Park. The brilliant, flashing carnival lights and glowing logos from the skyscraping corporate buildings are ribbons of pink, melon, blue and gold on the cove waters. Two meters more and I could touch these watery ribbons of light.

Just up the quay a guitarist's acoustic medley plays almost in sync with the undulating cove waters. Voices--mostly Australians, but also American, Asian dialects, etc.--move behind me like the whispers of ghostly procession. Their words and footfalls are in time with the water, the music, the night. This is the circadian rhythm of Circular Quay.

I'm at the bus stand now. The night air has grown thicker, grown fat on an oily mix of petrol and diesel. Taxis squeak past and the train rumbles loudly overhead. My view is now mostly concrete, taxis, buses and people.
Parramatta, Five Dock, Lilyfield, Rozelle---if I were going in any of those directions (in other words, via Parramatta Road) then I could be one of those faces staring anxiously out the bus windows at the bus stand queues, knowing that they'll soon be home.
The Dulwich Hill bus stops at my stand. I could take that bus and walk from Marrickville or catch the next 423 from Marrickville Road on to Earlwood. I opt to stay seated and await the 423 that will arrive soon to this stand. The warm exhaust wheezed from the Dulwich Hill bus envelops me and I hold my breath reflexively. I silently hope that the riders will quickly pay their fares or dip their prepaid cards quickly so that I can breath fresher air again!

Each time I hear a bus approach, I crane my neck from inside the bus stand. I feel like someone who is looking impatiently for a long-lost friend or family member to stride up the street at any moment. Perhaps I am a little impatient.

I prefer to catch the 423 from Circular Quay because I am always certain that I will be one of the first people aboard. This is where the service begins, so I'm not in a position of having to navigate through a crowd of passengers. I hate the feeling of nudging past strangers and the uncomfortable closeness of a fully loaded bus.

Abbotsford, East Ryde...
Finally! The Kingsgrove bus (the 423) arrives!
I'm the first one aboard. The bus is cold, brightly-lit and empty.
I'm jostled about as we make our way up Pitt Street, stopping only momentarily to allow traffic to cross Pitt from Bridge Street.
Pitt Street is like a mini Land-o-Banks. Westpac, HSBC, Macquarie, NAB, Bank of Queensland, tax agents---all manner of financial buildings. Hunter Street seems rather inconsequential to me. Castlereagh Street, however, is where all the high-end shops are---Gucci, Versace, Tiffany & Co., all the places the affluent consider staple shops. I personally like the Centrepoint building---there's a Thai place in the basement food court where you can get a $5 lunch on weekdays. I venture that way after I've been in the State Reference Library (or the Mitchell Wing) researching all morning. I trudge back up to Hyde Park with my $5 lunch and plant myself on a bench to watch the people walking by.

The bus is getting crowded now. Time to put the ole notebook away and watch the sights as I draw out of the city and into the green surrounds of Earlwood, where the city lights are distant ornaments tacked to the horizon.